Bicycles, Coffee & Miscellany

eating crow

One thing I wanted to do with my tech changes was put on a set of tires that was just a little bit skinnier than the 2.1’s, which were always rubbing against the fenders. I didn’t want to buy anything with all the stuff I have sitting around the basement. Taking a look I found a set of Continental 1.95″ers with maybe 25 miles on them that I abandoned after my 2007 LHT blowout incident. I was saving them to use on my wife’s bike because I didn’t trust them for my size. Then I thought about the fact that even though I had a tire failure, I was 250 lbs at the time … and I was carrying a gallon of milk that day … and a case of soda … and some other stuff from the grocery store. Maybe overloading my bike was a little to blame for the tire malfunction.

Smooth ride, smoother than any other tire I’ve ridden in the last 2 years. They’re much heavier than my Kendas, but they have more rubber in the center so hopefully they’ll last a while too. Not much in the way of knobbies so I guess I’ll have to reach for the mountain bike if it snows. The smaller tire gives just enough breathing room under the fender to hush them up.

100 miles on the VO brake pads and they’re working great. No squeaks, good stopping power on wet and dry days, and less brake dust than my old pads. There was a little vibration in the front brakes but I just toed in the pads to correct the problem. If they last a good while I’ll have a new pad of choice.

Little thing, My racks and fenders have been in the wrong eyelets for the last 1000 miles. Fixed that because it was driving me nuts.

For all newlyweds, the year 3 traditional anniversary gift is leather. It was the wife’s idea to do big gifts this year. She got the modern gift (crystal). I got a Brooks team pro alp-d’huez. thanks baby! With a waterproof cover over it, 75 winter commutes will be a perfect break-in cycle for the leather before putting any really long miles on it next year. The team pro has nearly the same profile as the Brooks Narrow that I love so much, but the hide is a little thicker. It makes for a stiffer saddle at first, and then a more durable one later on.

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3 thoughts on “eating crow”

I’m getting some vibration out of the Koolstop Salmons on the front rim, so I’ll be playing with the toe-in a bit more. The VO’s are still an option, though.

That saddle is beautiful. One of the small complaints I have about my Flyer is how smooth it is, which occassionally causes my bumm to slide around unexpectedly. I would think a side benefit of the topo lines is to take care of that.

Thanks, the closest thing I could come to from a complaint about Brooks saddles is that I seem to slide forward in long hard climbs too. I’ve adjusted the saddle forward a bit on both my bikes and that has diminished on both bikes. Amazing the difference 1 cm makes.

I got a little squeak out of the VO pads last night on the way home in the rain, but nothing like the ‘fire truck siren-like’ sound that my old pads put out. Toe-in and l/r arm balance help more than anything I’ve tried so far. Tough to get cantis perfectly quiet, especially if the rim isn’t perfectly true.